What`s your most boneheaded RV moment?

[norty1]

We have found that in most state parks we frequent the site marker poles are easily removed if we are backing into a site and it is in the way. We always replace them immediately after parking.


I hit a tree once in a Fl SP while trying to avoid a post. Another camper came out and asked my why I didn't just pull it up? DUH moment.

[Gondolier]

On our first trip, it started to rain. I eyeballed the awning and thought it was sloped plenty. Went next door and visited friends for a while, came back and the awning was full. Tried to get it to drain but it burst instead, breaking the main roller beam along the way.

Next day, we removed the remains of the awning from the unit. The main roller beam ended up tearing where it was creased in the center, and the tension in the spring caused it to fly up and it hit my husband in the forehead. That took a few stitches.

Second trip, my husband took a turn too tight in the CG and took the sewer connection clean off the side of the trailer. This at the beginning of a 5 week trip. A trip to the hardware store repaired it enough to be functional until we got home and could do it properly.

Not boneheaded, but lucky. Same trip as the sewer incident, about five minutes later. We pulled into a campground that had seen a lot of rain recently. Our site was rather soft. Backed the trailer in, chocked it, and before I put the tongue jack down, my husband took his foot off the brake. No big deal, it's chocked, right? The ground was so soft that the trailer just pushed the chocks into the mud and drove right over them. Lesson learned, and we now have a "neutral test." After chocking and before putting tongue jack down, the driver puts the truck in neutral, foot off the brake, to make sure the chocks hold. It has saved us a couple more times, when the chocks skidded instead of holding.

Two winters ago, I decided to leave a roof vent ajar. We had the covers over them so we could leave them open in the rain, so why not, right? Then we had over 10 feet of snow. Ice dams build up, snow above melts, down into the vent it went. Thankfully it drained out the trailer doing minimal damage along the way, but the entire front storage compartment was completely covered in mold. Many hours of cleaning and lots of bleach for that one.

[Morsa1999]

Driving home with my new to me pop up, without latching pointless lock on hitch. Drove 80 miles with it like that until someone flagged me on the road to let me know my trailer was bouncing on the hitch.

[c00lman]

for us, it happened last year, we open the vents as it was sunny and weather is nice LOL. We left and forgot to close the vent (we usually close them all the time if we leave the RV) then it rained really hard. lol

having a nice pool of water inside the RV is not nice hahaha and it went under the floor to the insulation at the front area. removed all the wet insulation last year and just added new insulation this year LOL.

Those are simple things that once you forget can cause huge issues hahaha.

[Edd505]

Dropped the prior 5W in a parking area to drive Bryce scenic route in Utah, no trailers over 25ft allowed. We make our tour and get back to the parking lot to hook back up. I did not connect brakes before hand and lock them. before backing under the 5W and it slides back. We had leveled for lunch and lowered the rear stabilizers ....... bent! When leaving now I always make sure the rear stabilizers are up before backing under. The good, I was able remove and repair them after I got home.

[Camper_bob]

So I've got one, but it turned out okay.

Last time we were out, it was raining quite a bit off and on the whole weekend. We had our awning out to help keep the trailer cool because when it wasn't raining, the sun was beating down on us. So it starts raining, the awning's out and not tilted, and I completely forgot about it. So we're sitting around enjoying the sound of the rain, watching TV when I hear a weird sound. Me: "What was that?", DW: "I think it was the awning". OH CRAP! I left the awning out and it's not tilted!

I opened the door and can see the awning FULL of water, looking like a whale belly outside my trailer! Just then, the awning tilts severely and my heart drops for just a second. Just then I hear all the water dump onto my truck and the awning pops back up. The "auto dump" feature worked!! The sound we heard earlier was the auto dump feature working the first time, and it was dumping again when I opened the door. WHEW!! I'm sure glad it worked how it was designed!

I immediately pulled the awning in. Now I will remember to give the awning a tilt EVERY TIME.

[northwindone]

Got a new one from this weekend's trip, beware it’s a long one:

Thursday evening we were headed up to a BLM campground on a remote road and following printed directions as this campground was not on our GPS and there was no cell signal to use Google Maps. We knew the turn off was so many miles past a marked road so at the mile mark there was a narrow road leading up a hill to the left and out of view.

My wife had her doubts it was the road as there was no typical BLM Campground sign. But I was sure it was it as the entrance to the campsite was supposed to be up the road about a mile. So I turned up the 1 lane narrow road...went around a few curves and found a locked gate across the road. So there I am after a 3 hour drive, 7:30 in the evening, no one has had dinner, and I’m sitting in my truck with my wife and 2 kids in my crew cab long bed truck and a 30 foot trailer behind us staring at a gate. So now I can back down the road, or try to turn around. I noticed a patch of gravel off to the side of the road just wide enough that maybe I can make a u-turn.

Now keep in mind I’m driving an early Super Duty, with those of you unfamiliar with the early Super Duties, they have have front leaf springs. Because of this they have the turning radius of an oil tanker.

Anyhow back to our story. I swing the truck into the dirt to the right as far as it will go brushing the scrub brush against the wheels and swing in front of the gate and into the creosote and scrub brush on the left of the road and there I stop. If I could just get a few more feet I could complete the turn. I ask my wife to jump into the driver's seat and back up a bit while I direct how far for her to jackknife the trailer. She cranks the wheel the other way to give us some more clearance and proceeded to back up about 2 feet before the hitch won’t allow anymore movement. We still need another 2 feet to clear the brush, but I weigh the risks and consider the strength of the sidewalls on my e-rated tires and decide to go for it. I tell her to pull forward and just plow through the creosote bushes. The truck drove right over them and she stopped the truck as soon as we were clear. She stopped to let me inspect for damage and make sure we didn’t light any sage or creosote on fire, though I wouldn’t blame her for leaving me behind to reflect on my decision.

Except for the smell of hot sage and creosote bushes there was no damage done and the trailer stayed on asphalt or gravel the whole time. We continued down the road, turned onto the main road and found the giant BLM sign a ¼ mile down the road. It was a nice campground, but it ended up not having a space for us. Of course that could have been because a single truck and tent were taking up two pull-through sites despite 4 or 5 small sites being open!!

We ended up going down the road and finding a private RV park with a site open after hours, all while almost getting lost in their campground. We checked with the office in the morning when they opened and they had a cancellation and we stayed until Sunday. We ended up spending $100+ for full hookups and a trout stream 15’ behind us for 3 days instead of $15 for 3 days at the BLM camp, but it was a great weekend!

[Fire_Instructor]

Mine involved getting the steps out of sequence while dumping and flushing a black tank a few years ago..... Use your imagination. Fortunately, there were no photos, but there WAS a nearby outdoor shower.... It wasn't pretty......

[dmward]

Fortunately no damage done, but more of a warning to everyone.

I put our slide out with no problem earlier today. Just now, I heard the chirping of our smoke detector but couldn't find it anywhere, including where it should've been on the ceiling!

I guess it became dislodged while traveling and fell on the top of the slide out. When I opened the slide, out went the smokie! No damage done to the seal. I guess it just fit through.

Yikes!

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by dmward

Fortunately no damage done, but more of a warning to everyone.

I put our slide out with no problem earlier today. Just now, I heard the chirping of our smoke detector but couldn't find it anywhere, including where it should've been on the ceiling!

I guess it became dislodged while traveling and fell on the top of the slide out. When I opened the slide, out went the smokie! No damage done to the seal. I guess it just fit through.

Yikes!

That's the second such account I've read on this forum. Now I actually look for the smoke detector quite frequently, and if I don't see it right away, I know where to look for it! LOL!

[norty1]

Must have been all the campfires out there!

[dmward]

Originally Posted by norty1

Must have been all the campfires out there!

Haha! Actually, it was in the driveway, but the sun was directly hitting it, causing it to chirp (my guess).

My wife was laughing at me while I was trying to find it IN the trailer. I must've been went through all of the cabinets, opened the sofa, then had the "AH-HA!" moment.

[shadester]

I purchased and picked up a used class A Southwind. Dealer said it was ready to go and everything is set to travel. I was going over a bridge at about 60mph in the hammer lane when the main awning full extended. Talk about an air brake! Funny thing, there wasn't no damage. A heck of a way to do a stress test. Apparently they forgot to flip the arm locks (I also use wire ties now). Ever since then I check twice before hitting the road.

[kerner]

Pulled into a campsite that had lots of water around it. Decided to unhook and take just the truck back up to the office and see if we can change spots. I had unhooked everything except the emergency brake cable. Pulled the cord and brakes locked on the trailer, wife asked "what was that?" ...... "oh nothin' hunny" =-}'

[AncasterDuo]

Ha these are good stories, and they all deserve to be shared! And, the remedy for most of them is...Walk-around! Before moving! Like a pilot doing a pre-flight!

Here are some of mine, both from the new-to-us Jayflight 15-4 and from 9 years with the Pony pop-up.

1. While folding the awning in a wind storm, didn't get the brace down all the way on one arm; managed to bend the lower arm. Besides not being able to use the awning for the rest of the trip, this will cost about CAD$150.
2. Didn't lift the jack all the way before traveling; went over a high pavement ridge and bent the jack. Had to shorten/straighten/re-drill.
3. Didn't notice a ground slope so didn't set the chocks/blocks before unhitching; the Pony almost got away down-slope toward another (occupied) campsite. I think DW would have unhitched me.
4. Forgot to stow the lift-crank on the Pony; drove 300km and found it hanging in by about 1/2". Losing the crank would have been a big problem, and I thought about (but never acted on) making a spare fitting for the winch, i.e. that could be used with the tire jack.

[mike837go]

Not the biggest but a definite triple-play! All while heading home from the July 4, 2016 weekend of boondocking:


1) After packing up the camper, all stabilizers up all gear safely stowed, trailer door locked. I noticed the awing was still deployed. D'oh!


2) Hitched up. Lights checked. I'm behind the wheel, SWMBO is shotgun. Seatbelts fastened. Dog is still tied to the tree. Ok, Clark!


3) Stopped for breakfast at nearby diner. As we walk past the TT, I hear the fridge flame is burning. I had forgotten to turn off the propane tanks!


Somebody needs to write up a pre-flight checklist!

[northwindone]

Originally Posted by mike837go

Somebody needs to write up a pre-flight checklist!

+1, I use a checklist EVERY time, I have one for setup and for breakdown/towing. I've skipped using it for one breakdown before , and it almost cost me. I'm sure I would be posting to this thread more often if it weren't' for my checklists. I would probably be fine, but with two young kids running around they can be very distracting.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by northwindone

+1, I use a checklist EVERY time, I have one for setup and for breakdown/towing. I've skipped using it for one breakdown before , and it almost cost me. I'm sure I would be posting to this thread more often if it weren't' for my checklists. I would probably be fine, but with two young kids running around they can be very distracting.

That's one of the reasons DW is in charge of wrangling the kid and the wondermutt. I am left to make a "pre-flight" check undisturbed, and the kid and the dog rarely get left behind! LOL!!

The only thing I've ever forgotten was the TV antenna. I would like to say that will never happen again, but it almost happened twice. I'm thinking of getting some of those steering wheel reminder wraps. I'm still young enough that my mental checklist is relatively intact, but I'm old enough to know that it's getting a little "tattered"!

[mike837go]

Originally Posted by northwindone

+1, I use a checklist EVERY time, I have one for setup and for breakdown/towing. I've skipped using it for one breakdown before , and it almost cost me. I'm sure I would be posting to this thread more often if it weren't' for my checklists. I would probably be fine, but with two young kids running around they can be very distracting.

There's the rub.

SWMBO & I have no distractions (other than each other).

Though, both of us do suffer from CRS.

[Camper_bob]

Originally Posted by mike837go

There's the rub.

SWMBO & I have no distractions (other than each other).

Though, both of us do suffer from CRS.

CRS is really becoming a problem around our house. They should make a pill for that! Probably couldn't afford it if they did...